Bismarck

The speed of the aircraft was measured at hundreds of kilometers per hour, and this characteristic itself determined that the aircraft had high attack and low defense! Moreover, there were 220 aircraft against only 45 of them!

This is an absolute military advantage of nearly five to one!

Not to mention that when the supply ship is replenishing, the course and speed of the two ships are strictly limited! Not to mention that the supplies this time also include dozens of boxed fighters - with the current level of technology, the transport ship can only be docked next to Zeppelin, and then the disassembled boxed planes can be pushed in one by one from the elevator.

In this case, I'm afraid my fleet won't be able to move freely for the entire day.

Lütjens was also worried about this.

His right eyebrow twitched, making Lütjens feel that something might go wrong during the supply...

The cat, who was standing beside his captain and staring at the sea with him, suddenly pricked up his ears. Then, as if he had heard something on the WIFI, he gently tugged at Lütjens' sleeve: "Captain, Zeppelin reports that a supply ship has been found, 200 kilometers to our north."

"Oh? Have you found the transport ship?" Lütjens turned his head slightly and glanced at Bismarck. "You want Zeppelin to take another look to see if there are any problems on the ship or in the surrounding area! Ask her to be more careful. I have a feeling that something is going to happen today."

"Oh well."

Although he didn't quite understand, the usually well-behaved and obedient Ship Cat still nodded.

It didn't take long for the shipgirl to observe the two transport ships. Soon, Zeppelin's observation report came back...

"Captain, Zeppelin said there were no problems on board. There were no problems within 200 kilometers around the transport ship. The same is true for the other reconnaissance aircraft groups."

"Is it all right?" Lütjens frowned even more. After thinking for a while, he said, "... Let Zeppelin return and all fighters on the flight deck ready! Also, the entire fleet should be increased to 50 knots... Before reuniting with the supply ship, let Zeppelin send another batch of reconnaissance planes to scout the nearby airspace at least two hours in advance. When it's time for supply, there should be at least patrol planes in the sky, and the rest should be gathered on the flight deck ready for emergency takeoff! Finally, when it's time for supply, let Zeppelin and Eugen go first to receive the supply - Eugen will load the oil, if she doesn't have enough oil, Zeppelin will load the plane first!... You and Tizi both have more than % fuel and ammunition, at least barely enough to fight a battle, so after they finish supplying, we and Tizi will go to supply again."

"Ok!"

The well-behaved Persian cat nodded, its ears twitching.

----

The supply ship was only traveling at a speed of ten knots. Even though Lütjens feared that the night would be too long and he asked Bismarck and his crew to increase the speed to twenty knots, it still took nearly four hours to rendezvous with the supply ship at a distance of two hundred kilometers. In order to replenish the carrier-based aircraft, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier had to spend nearly half an hour under the command of Bonte and Zeppelin's own personal control before it carefully approached one of the supply ships, which looked like a cargo ship.

There were three-foot waves on the windless sea. The cautious Zeppelin turned his engine clock to a low gear to keep it parallel to the speed of the merchant ship. The crew threw ropes to each other and tied the two ships tightly together. The side elevator on the right rear of the Zeppelin was lowered to the lowest position, and two sets of makeshift gangplanks were placed on the deck of the merchant ship. The cargo hold cover of the merchant ship was also opened, and the crane lifted up groups of wooden boxes and gently placed them on the pallet truck. Then several sailors rushed forward, and under the command of the boatswain's whistle and flag signals, they carefully pushed the boxes into the Zeppelin's hangar along the shaky makeshift gangplank.

Although such maritime replenishment is already a daily routine for the German Navy, which was basically founded as an attack ship, such work is really a bit sweaty...

Compared to Zeppelin's fear of replenishing planes, Prince Eugen's situation was better. Although the replenishment technology of two ships sailing in parallel that Bismarck saw in later generations has not yet been developed, it is not difficult to replenish fuel. According to the details of ocean-going marine replenishment that his own fleet commander had specifically consulted when he visited the Japanese-occupied port of Ceylon, Eugen drove to the front of the tanker, dropped an oil pipeline from the stern, and hung it on the bow of the tanker with the help of a small boat (PS: The historical refueling technology developed by Japan on the eve of Pearl Harbor, because the stern refueling is the front ship towing the rear ship, in order to prevent the relatively small tonnage tanker from towing a relatively large tonnage warship, resulting in the breaking of the steel cable and the towing pipe, Japan at that time specially developed the reverse towing refueling technology of large tonnage warship towing small tonnage tanker)

Plane after plane was pushed into the Zeppelin's hangar by the sailors with the sound of "Xu~Xu~" whistles. At the same time, the fuel of the Prince Eugen was pumped into the oil tank ton by ton by oil pumps.

In Bismarck's mind, Bonte was standing on the bridge of the Zeppelin, watching the loading of the aircraft with a serious face - after all, loading the aircraft was time-consuming and troublesome, and one had to be careful not to bump or damage it. On the bridge of Eugen, Top was gone - it was Eugen who told his sister that Top had now hidden in the chief engineer's electrical cabin, staring with wide eyes without blinking, watching the fuel gauge slowly turn, and complaining why it couldn't be faster...

"...Last time, the commander said that Field Marshal Raeder wanted to make some improvements... If possible, Top also said that if I want to modify it, he wants me to increase the amount of fuel, and also said that he wants me to strengthen my horizontal defense a little bit..."

Eugen in the WIFI space was pointing his finger in front of Bismarck a little embarrassedly.

After all, no matter how evil a battleship is, it is still a girl. She will always be a little shy when talking about modifying her body.

"Hehe, it's nothing. Your sister Grape and I will also have to be transformed when the time comes... and Zeppelin will also have to be transformed. We always have to make some changes~"

Looking at the somewhat shy Eugen, Bismarck stretched out his sinful hand with a smile, and began to touch Eugen's head in his dazed eyes - well, he must have been led astray by his captain.

"Hey! Sister Bismarck, stop touching me! Why do you always like to touch my head..."

"Of course it's your hair that feels the best to touch." Bismarck said with a sly smile.

“Ahhh…don’t…”

Zeppelin beside him turned a blind eye to this, and after logging out of the WIFI, she returned to her own flight deck dispatch room and began to dispatch the aircraft on her flight deck. On the other side, Tirpitz pouted slightly, and then the hair on his head turned, and then he turned around, tilted his head and secretly glanced at Bismarck and Eugen who were playing around with a look of interest.

--------

"Who is it? Sneaking around! Come out!"

As if it had discovered something, the little hamster's eyes, which had originally been lazy but with an artistic glow, froze in an instant!

A cold shout startled Bismarck and Eugen, who were playing around, and their eyes became tense and alert almost at the same time. Zeppelin, who was dispatching the flight deck on the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, was also slightly startled and appeared in the WIFI space at random.

"Oh? You found me as soon as I arrived? You are really born in the Year of the Rat? Your nose is really sharp..."

Along with the voice of the married old lady that the sister ships found annoying, a war-weary girl with a small crown on her long golden hair appeared from the WIFI space.

"It's you! War-weary!"

Bismarck's face was somewhat solemn - although he was not afraid of Warspite, and even just a month and a half ago, Warspite was almost beaten to death by him, and he should still be under major repairs now.

But... she is here now, and if the intelligence is correct, her commander, Cunningham, is now the First Sea Lord of the United Kingdom and the Admiral of the Royal Navy...

So, that is...

Bismarck looked at his old rival in the WIFI space and hurriedly reported to the captain.

The war-weary man over there, who looked contemptuous of war, was still smiling and talking nonsense with no substance:

"It's me. Come to think of it, seeing an old friend coming, why don't you treat me to a cup of Ceylon's specialty black tea?" Yan Zhan smiled slightly, raised his head provocatively, and lifted his skirt: "Although I know you won't treat me to tea, I still want to come to you."

"You are a defeated general, yet you still have the nerve to ask me to entertain you?" Bismarck said with a sneer after a serious look.

"War-weary! Where is my reconnaissance plane?!" Zeppelin also gritted his teeth.

As someone who was highly praised by Goering and even wanted to be appointed as the director of German fighter planes, she naturally thought of what Bismarck thought of.

Warspite appeared here, it must be that the British and American fleets have come to attack, and his reconnaissance plane did not send a warning, I am afraid that it has already...

"Your reconnaissance plane? How would I know about your reconnaissance plane? But you have to be careful, Zeppelin. A lone reconnaissance plane is just like a lone aircraft carrier. Anything can happen... But now it seems that your little mouse has a very good nose."

"You are the rat! Your whole family are rats!" The little hamster gritted his teeth.

It’s obviously a cute hamster, and a cute pink-haired hamster…

However, after hearing War-weary's words, Bismarck looked at Ti Zi with some surprise.

Well, she probably originally wanted to sneak in to eavesdrop on some intelligence, but somehow, she was found out by Tizi.

War-weary, who was discovered over there, also smiled slightly mockingly, and his figure gradually faded away.

"If you don't welcome me, then I'll take my leave. We'll still follow the old rules. See you on the battlefield."

"I have to win the battle against you on the battlefield, old witch!" Tizi gnashed her teeth and shouted at Warspite who was gradually disappearing. But she also knew that Warspite who was offline would not be able to hear her.

Over there, someone has already called the police:

"Report! Radar detected enemy forces! Northeast, 160 kilometers away, number of aircraft... at least 100!"

"Immediately cut off the supply! Abandon the supply ship! All supply crew members board the warship and accept command!! After abandoning the supply ship, the entire fleet turns south and prepares to take off fighter jets!" Lütjens acted decisively and issued a combat order immediately.

"Deck fighters, get in position! Once all the crew members of the supply ship are on board, turn around immediately!" Bangtai began to issue combat orders. Meanwhile, Lindemann and Top also began to sound the alarm in their own warships...

In the WIFI space, Bismarck, Zeppelin, Grapes, and Eugen, who were also worried, looked at each other and gradually began to leave the WIFI space.

It seems that this is the end of the supply this time...

Chapter 688: Redel: Sir, I am really wronged.

The shrill alarm broke the midday silence, and Zeppelin, Prince Eugen, and the German officers and soldiers on the two supply ships began to spin like gyroscopes on the spot.

The officers and soldiers on the supply ship ran out of the cabin one after another, and together with the last set of aircraft components, they were dragged from the gangway to the elevator and ran directly to the decks of the Zeppelin and Prince Eugen - they had to run out of the maze-like corridors in the cabin within ten minutes, otherwise they would be completely thrown off by the two warships that had broken away from the supply ship.

Then I can only temporarily change to another unit to stay for a while.

The plane was only a hundred kilometers away and could reach here in less than half an hour. Moreover, Admiral Lütjens had telegraphed them before the supply ship approached, asking them to be prepared for emergencies. If anyone had anything that they didn't have time to take away, they could only say sorry...

The flight deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier was also in a state of chaos. In the previous hour and a half, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier's hangar had been stuffed with more than a dozen fighter planes that had been disassembled into parts by sailors from two ships.

Meanwhile, her flight deck was also busy. In addition to the twelve FW-190 fighters parked in the reserve area next to the flight deck that had completed their patrol and were now refueling, and the sixteen FW-190s that were climbing up and forming a formation in the sky, ready to intercept at any time, all the seventeen fighters that could be used on the Zeppelin aircraft carrier - seven FW-190s and ten BF-109s - had been pushed onto the flight deck with the help of the ground crew and were ready to go.

To put it more viciously, some people are now cursing why the ship is still being sailed!

After all, fighting is all about racing against time...

Fortunately, the crew of the supply ship, who had been prepared in advance, ran out with boxes and jumped onto the elevator of the Zeppelin. The commander of the supply ship checked and found that all the crew members and a group of supplementary pilots who came with the crates had boarded the ship in just over seven minutes without any escape.

After hearing what Zeppelin had reported, Bangtai nodded, turned on the microphone, and at a command, several strong and tall sailors raised their fire axes high and cut the cables that tied the two ships together with a few snaps...

On the other side, Eugen, which had also supplied 600 to 700 tons of fuel in the previous hour and a half, had also taken away the crew and sailors on the tanker. After Zeppelin and Eugen had separated from the two supply ships, Bismarck and Tirpitz looked at each other and fired the only four torpedoes left on their bodies at the two transport ships that had not yet completed the supply mission and had to give up and died with hatred...

"Damn you British, we are not done with you..."

Looking at the transport ship that was blown into two pieces by the torpedo, everyone was gritting their teeth.

---

One hundred and forty planes took off from the British aircraft carrier, forming a formation that covered the sky and the sun, and headed towards the direction of Lütjens' evil fleet, covering it like a dragnet!

Although the four giant-class light aircraft carriers can only reach a speed of 25 knots due to their simplified construction, their 212-meter-long and 24-meter-wide flight decks have the same deployment capabilities as medium-sized aircraft carriers.

Moreover, if this is the case even for a light aircraft carrier, let alone the 233-meter-long and 29-meter-wide aircraft carrier, the Vengeance...

Although Zeppelin and Prince Eugen had turned around and sailed at full speed in the opposite direction after shaking off the transport ship, how could the Cricket, with a speed of more than 30 knots, outrun the attacking British aircraft group...

Even if you sail at full speed for half an hour, the distance is only 5 kilometers - only minutes for a cricket!

Although, Zeppelin didn't want to run away, he just wanted to buy some time to release his fleet...

"Everyone, listen to my organization: the patrol fleet is the temporary first echelon, led by Rudolph and Buckhorn... The fleet I am leading now is the second echelon! In addition, the twelve aircraft that have completed patrols before are the third echelon. Go to the flight deck and be on standby at any time!"

Zeppelin gave the order quickly.

"The enemy aircraft is seventy kilometers away from our ship... The first echelon of the patrol aircraft group maintains altitude and continues to assemble... The second echelon of the reinforcement aircraft group will turn around and climb immediately after taking off! Prepare to fight!"

A BF-109 fighter plane painted with pure white edelweiss, with subordinates behind it, hurriedly flew up from the flight deck. Zeppelin, who was extremely anxious, did not care about the fuel consumption, and directly ordered his subordinates to push the throttle to the bottom, then turned around, shook his wings a few times, and climbed to the sky behind him.

The enemy plane was only fifteen minutes away from his main body! Zeppelin now only hated why his plane could not climb faster...

Moreover, the number of these enemy aircraft...

The radar was far away before, and they reported more than 100 planes when the fleet was relatively concentrated, but now it seems that there are at least 140 planes - it seems that the British are determined to win this, and even knew that I was here at the first time, and launched a big move like a full-deck attack at the beginning...

Also, how do they determine their exact location?

Zeppelin's brain short-circuited.

There are too many enemies! She didn't care that she might be eavesdropped by War-weary, and only had time to hurriedly shout to Bismarck on the WIFI, "They have 140 planes... Tell the commander, we are either being monitored or the intelligence has been leaked."

After shouting, regardless of Bismarck's confused expression, he could only turn around and stare at the enemy planes in his perception range, dozens of kilometers ahead of him, which were as dense as locusts passing through...

Even within the perception range of the early warning and command fighters, a very abnormal thing about this fleet was that 60% of the aircraft in the enemy fleet were fighters!

"Because they have four light aircraft carriers, and no matter how close the light aircraft carriers are to their normal course, their speed is too slow after all. And this area of ​​the sea is a calm belt this season, so are the heavy-loaded bombers restricted from taking off?"

He calculated the enemy and our own situation in his mind. Although there were only sixteen FW190s of the patrol group facing hundreds of enemy aircraft in the sky, the manpower was absolutely disadvantaged... However, there was no time for him to slowly merge with them and then intercept the enemy aircraft.

Zeppelin knows the characteristics of air power, high speed and high attack, better than anyone else!

The opportunity was fleeting! Now, I'm afraid we can only let them intercept first, strive for one more interception opportunity, and consume every enemy plane...

"First echelon, listen to the order - attack!"

Gritting his teeth unwillingly, Zeppelin painfully issued the order to fight - although the first echelon had two super aces, Erich Rudolf and Gerhard Barkhorn, but challenging the opponent's fifty-six bombers under the cover of eighty-four fighters with only sixteen FW-190s, which were only suitable for diving in waves, was a dangerous task...

"Rudolph, Buckhorn, I'll be there soon, you must hold on a little longer..."

Looking back at the sixteen fighter planes behind him, Zeppelin closed his eyes and shook his head. The Edelweiss Witch pushed the throttle to the bottom and prayed silently for her comrades in front of her with gritted teeth.

Even though he had first-rate command abilities, with only seventeen planes on his side, the absolute disadvantage of thirty-three versus eighty-four was suffocating and despairing...

Today is another sad day.

---

"Zeppelin said...our supply plan might be leaked?!"

In the command room of the battleship Bismarck, Lütjens' face instantly became extremely terrifying when he heard Bismarck's report!

In fact, not only Lütjens, but also Bonte on the Zeppelin, Lindemann on the Tirpitz, and Top on the Prinz Eugen, all had very serious expressions!

This time, the supply operation was just halfway through when it was ambushed on such a large scale - five aircraft carriers! One hundred and forty planes! Based on past experience of being tricked, I'm afraid some people are determined to keep me here forever!

Although the sisters quickly reached a consensus under the leadership of Bismarck due to the fear that the news would affect the morale of the troops, and only a few captains knew about it for the time being, but the feeling of being betrayed by one's own people behind their backs - everyone seemed to quickly think of the same person.

Everyone just wanted to curse in front of Redel:

"Redl! How can you be worthy of Germany if you do such a thing?!"

However, we can't say anything now - because there is no evidence at all. After all, although the leakage of military operation plans is a big problem, many times we don't know where the leakage occurred. And with Redel's shrewdness and ability to cover up everything, he can do it without anyone noticing, and even if we investigate, we won't find any problems.

Without evidence, you cannot speak nonsense no matter what the situation.

Lütjens turned his hands behind his back twice, finally suppressing the anger in his heart, and turned to look at Bismarck: "Bismarck, send a telegram immediately, saying that we were ambushed and specifically asking him for tactical guidance - just stab him first, and then see what Raeder says! Tell me when you get the reply!"

"Yes!" Bismarck also nodded with an angry look on his face.

The feeling of being betrayed really made her feel very sad and angry.

---